World Blood Donor Days

”World Blood Donor Day” was established by the World Health Assembly in May 2005 to strengthen blood donation processes and recognize people who collaborate in efforts to collect sufficient blood for transfusions. Given the positive reactions to the celebrations held in several locations around the world on 14 June 2004, the World Health Assembly adopted Resolution WHA58.13, “Blood safety: Proposal to establish World Blood Donor Day.” The Pan American Health Organization, Regional Office for the
Americas of the World Organization (PAHO/WHO), was among the institutions that organized activities that year, including the Regional Ceremony at PAHO Headquarters in
Washington,
D.C.

For four consecutive years the Regional Ceremony for World Blood Donor Day was held in the
United States. In 2008, PAHO decided to hold the celebration in one of its Member States.
Colombia was selected in recognition of its steady growth in the proportion of volunteer donors and the number of units of blood collected annually.

In 2009, PAHO/WHO decided to hold the “World Blood Donor Day” Regional Ceremony in
Asunción,
Paraguay. The aim was to recognize and buttress the country’s efforts to improve its national blood system. In recent years,
Paraguay has determined its national need for blood products and defined the functional structure and national strategy required to attain sufficiency for blood transfusions based on voluntary, altruistic blood donations.

For more information and testimonies from blood donors please read the following multilingual-document: